By Haggai Matsiko Makerere University, the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development and the French Embassy held an international Conference on Land Policies in East Africa that brought many scholars. The Independent’s Haggai Matsiko spoke to Prof Maurice N. Amutabi of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa about land …

By Mukiibi Sserunjogi Have judges resorted to ‘judicial activism’ to address election rigging? Before the High Court session that is currently hearing election petitions arising out of the February elections opened, few politicians had faith in resorting to courts if they felt their votes were stolen. One of the pessimists …

By Rukiya Makuma What next after opposition leaders are accused of failure to organise? On Oct. 16, a day before what Walk to Work organisers promised would be a massive resumption of the protests that paralysed the country in April, the Jinja highway was crowded with police patrol cars zooming …

By Morrison Rwakakamba What does it tell you that Uganda is absent from the countries embracing ‘open’ government values? On September 20th in New York, USA, President Barack Obama launched the Open Government Partnership (OGP, see www.opengovpartnership.org) – a powerful, new effort to make governments more open to their citizens. …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Botswana discovered diamonds and transformed itself into a vibrant economy. Sierra Leone discovered diamonds and went to the dogs. Prof. Paul Collier, director of the Centre for Study of African Economies at Oxford University, thinks Uganda could go either way depending on how well it establishes …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati NFA’s tree planting campaign may fetch fortunes in carbon credits, but residents displaced by the green farms are yet to find a home The beautiful, endless, lush greenery of young forest captures the eye as one enters Kikandwa trading centre. It goes all the way to …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati The difference 30 years makes In 1980 Kamwokya was a bushy swamp, populated by hunters and migrant Bafumbira yam growers. The area of the Ministers’ Village in Ntinda looked like a forest reserve, its bushes alive with the music of playful monkeys. Kiwatule was then a …

By Rukiya Makuma An “unexpected” baby girl upsets her parent’s precarious livelihood and opens debate on whether Uganda can afford its population growth In the small one-roomed tenement, Mary Aheebwa lies on a small bed, her parents’ most valuable possession. Born early morning on Oct. 31, Aheebwa weighed in at …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati If you asked Gen Ham Carter, commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), he will tell you that all evil in this world “exists in the person of Joseph Kony”. On July 19, Gen Ham told Ugandan journalists at AFRICOM’s Stuttgart headquarters in Germany that he …

By Haggai Matsiko Experts say the Mo Ibrahim Index’s latest ranking of Uganda would be flattering if it weren’t so fictitious Experts have criticized the latest rankings of the Mo Ibrahim Africa Governance Index as a fiction, out of touch with realities in Uganda. The main bone of contention is …